I am an active hiker and a resident of Upper Freehold in Monmouth County. The Union Transportation Trail, which is part of a network of linear parks or rails-to-trails, is a popular concept that has been widely accepted throughout the country.

The partially completed trail currently ends at Davis Station Road. Instead of the trail continuing forward on the permanent easement established in 1998 specifically for recreational trail use, it appears that the trail is being diverted to follow a route along Davis Station Road and along Route 539, where it will be within 10 feet of the roadway.

There have been horrific accidents along the stretch of Route 539 where this trail is being diverted to. There is an extraordinary volume of truck traffic, traveling at high rates of speed. The trail diversion seems to be a recipe for disaster.

The recreational trail is used primarily by hikers, horseback riders and bicyclists. Has there been any thought that families will not be able to let their children wander a few feet in front of them, in fulfillment of the rails-to-trails concept? Riders and their horses on the trail will definitely get spooked by the traffic traveling at speeds in excess of 50 mph.

Why is the trail being diverted off the serene, permanent right-of-way that was granted to the Monmouth County Park System more than a decade ago, and relocated to an inevitably doomed location?

I am fearful to think of the probable scenarios when such an extreme and direct conflict between heavy truck traffic and recreational trail users comes to exist.